Jack Wenninger extends scoreless streak, strengthens Mets promotion case

Jack Wenninger did not just survive another Triple-A start. He kept rolling through Syracuse with five scoreless innings, one hit allowed and seven strikeouts, pushing his season ERA to 1.08 and giving the Mets more reason to wonder how long they can keep him in the minors.

The right-hander’s latest outing extended a run that has quickly become one of the strongest pitching stories in the organization. MLB.com reported that Wenninger had not allowed a run over his previous three starts before this one, a stretch that carried his scoreless-inning streak to 16 2/3 frames. For a club that is always balancing development with big-league needs, that kind of consistency turns a good prospect line into a roster discussion.

Wenninger has spent his first weeks at Triple-A Syracuse making the jump look manageable. He opened his Syracuse stint on April 1 with 4 2/3 scoreless innings and five strikeouts, then had already reached a 1.27 ERA in six starts by May 6. That earlier surge included Syracuse’s 3-1 win over Rochester at NBT Bank Stadium, and his latest performance only tightened the grip on the conversation surrounding his next step.

The case is not built on a small sample in a vacuum. Wenninger entered 2026 coming off a strong 2025 at Double-A Binghamton, where he posted a 2.92 ERA with 142 strikeouts in 135 2/3 innings. Among Double-A qualifiers, he ranked sixth in ERA and third in strikeouts, a combination that helped establish him as a pitcher who misses bats and holds up over a workload. Since last year, his 158 innings pitched and 31 starts both rank first in the Mets system among qualified pitchers.

That durability matters as much as the numbers. Wenninger, the Mets’ No. 5 prospect, was selected in the sixth round of the 2023 MLB Draft out of the University of Illinois and signed for $225,000. Born in Barrington, Illinois, he has moved through the system with the kind of steady strike-throwing that often wins favor when a major-league rotation needs help.

At this point, the question is no longer whether Wenninger belongs on a prospect list. It is what he still has to prove at Triple-A after another start that looked almost too easy. If the Mets want a pitcher who has already shown he can handle innings, miss bats and keep runs off the board, Wenninger is making the next call increasingly hard to avoid.